Andrew Stover is taking his regional wine portfolio on a road trip around the DC area this summer

This post is especially for Washington D.C.-area readers. Andrew Stover, known to wine lovers around the region for his advocacy of wines from unexpected places around the country, is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his Vino50 portfolio with “The Grape American Road Trip,” a summer-long series of events showcasing wines and winemakers from New York, Missouri, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, and probably a few other places that would have you saying, “They make wine there?”

Over the years I’ve written about Stover for Washingtonian(2007) and for The Washington Post(2010). Back when it was extremely rare to find local wines on D.C. restaurant wine lists (not so long ago!), Andrew was already evangelizing for wines from Georgia, Ohio and Texas at Oya restaurant in Penn Quarter, where he was sommelier. As a millennial, he was quick to tap into that generation’s thirst for new wines unencumbered by preconceptions and prejudices.

The Grape American Roadtrip features a recurring Southwest Wines Flight at Green Pig Bistro in DC, several events with Brooklyn Enology winemaker Alie Shaper, a Texas BBQ dinner and several wine tastings and seminars at local stores. The calendar is still evolving, so check here for updates.